A Plain and Familiar Explication OF CHRIST'S PRESENCE IN THE SACRAMENT OF HIS Body and Blood, Out of the Doctrine of the Church of ENGLAND. For the fatisfying of a Scrupulous Friend. Hat Chrift Jefus our Lord is truly prefent, and received in the bleffed Sacrament of his body and blood, is fo clear and univerfally agreed upon, that he can be no Chriftian that doubts it. But in what manner he is both prefent and received is a point that hath exercised many wits, and coft many thousand lives; and fuch as fome Orthodox Divines are wont to exprefs with a kind of fcruple, as not daring to speak out; For me, as I have learn'd to lay my hand on my mouth where God and his Church have been filent,and to adore thofe mysteries which I cannot comprehend, fo I think it is poffible we may wrong our felves in an over-cautious fear of delivering fufficiently-revealed truths; fuch I take this to be which we have in hand; wherein as God hath not been fparing to declare himself in his word, So the Church of England our dear Mother hath freely opened her felf in fuch fort as if the meant to meet with the future fcruples of an over-tender posterity. Certainly there can be but two wayes wherein he can be imagined to be prefent, and received; either corporally, or fpiritually : That he should be corporally prefent at once, in every part of every Euchariftical Element through the World, is fuch a Monster of opinion as utterly overthrowes the truth of his humane body, deftroyes the nature of a Sacrament, implies a world of contradictions, baffles right reafon, tranfcends all faith, and in short, confounds Heaven and Earth; as we might cafily fhow in all particulars if it were the drift of my difcourfe to meddle with those which profefs themselves not ours: who yet do no less then we cry down the grofs and Capernaitical expreffion which their Pope Nicholas prefcribed to Berengarius; and cannot but confess that their own Card. Bellarmine advises this phrafe of Chrifts corporall prefence should be very sparingly, and warily taken up in the hearing of their people: but my intention only is to fatisfic thofe Sons of the Church,who,disclaiming from all opinion of Tranfubftantiation, do yet willingly imbrace a kind of irrefolution in this point, as holding it fafeft not to inquire into the manner of Chrifts prefence. What should be guilty of this nice doubtfulness I cannot conceive, unless it be a mifconftruction of thofe broad fpeeches, which antiquity (not fufpecting fo unlikely commentaries) hath upon all occafions been wont to let fall concerning thefe awful myfteries.For what thofe Oracles of the Church have divinely fpoken in reverence to the Sacramental union of the figne, and the thing fignified in this facred bufinefs, hath been mistaken, as literally and properly meant to be predicated of the outward Element: hence have grown thofe dangerous errors, and that inexplicable confufion which hath fince infefted the Church. When all is faid, nothing can be more clear, then that in respect of bodily prefence the Heavens must contain the glorified humanity of of Chrift untill his return to judgment. As therefore the Angel could fay, to the devout Maries after Chrifts refurrection fecking for him in his grave, He is rifen, he is not here; fo they ftill fay to us fecking for his glorious body here below: He is afcended, he is not here; It fhould abfolutely lose the nature of an humane body if it Mar.16. should not be circumfcriptible. Glorification doth not bereave it 6. of the truth of being what it is. It is a true humane body, and therefore can no more according to the natural being even of a body glorified, be many wheres at once, then according to his perfonal, being it can be feparated from that Godhead which is at once every where; Let it be therefore firmly fetled in our fouls as an undoubted truth, That the humane body of Chrift in refpect of corporal prefence is in Heaven, whither he visibly afcended, and where he fits on the right hand of the Father, and whence he thall come again with glory: a parcel of our Creed which the Church learn't of the Angels in Mount Olivet; who taught the gazing difciples that this fame Jefus which was taken up from them into Heaven, fhall fo come in like manner as they faw him go into Heaven, which was with wonderfull glory and magnificence. Far be it from us then to think that the bleffed humanity of the Son of God fhould fo difparage it felf, as where there is neither neceffity nor ufe of a bodily descent to steale down, and conveigh himself infenfibly from Hea ven to Earth daily, and to hide up his whole facred body in an hundred thousand several pixes at once. It is a wonder that fuperftition it self is not ashamed of fo abfurd and impoffible a fancy; which it is in vain for Men to think they can falve up with a pretence of omnipotence: we queftion not the power of God, but his will: and do well know he cannot will abfolute contradictions, Deus hoc potenter non potest, as one faid truly. That which we fay of Chrifts prefence,holds no lefs of his reception; for fo do we receive him into us,as he is prefent with us,neither can we corporally receive that which is bodily abfent: although befides the common incongruity of opinion, the corporal receiving of Chrift hath in it a further prodigioufnefs, and horrour: all the Novices of the Roman Schools are now afham'd of their Popes Dentibus teritur, but when their Doctors have made the best of their own Tenent, they cannot avoid St. Austins flagitium videtur præcipere; By how much the humane flesh is and ought to be more dear, by fo Ii 2 much much more odious is the thought of eating it, neither let them imagine they can escape the imputation of an hateful favageness in this act, for that it is not prefented to them in the form of flesh, whiles they profeffe to know it is fo, howsoever it appeareth: Let fome skilful cook fo dress mans flesh in the mixtures of his artificial hashes, and taft full fauces, that it cannot be difcerned by the fence, yet if I fhall afterwards understand that I have eaten it,though thus covertconveyed, I cannot but abhorr to think of fo unnatural a diet; Job.6. Corporally then to eat (if it were poffible) the flesh of Chrift, as 63. it could (in our Saviours own word) profit nothing,. fo it couldbe no other then a kinde of religious Cannibalisme, which both nature and grace cannot but justly rife against. Since therefore the body of Chrift cannot be faid to be corporally prefent, or received by us, it must needs follow that there is no way of his prefence or receit in the Sacrament but fpiritual, which the Church of England hath laboured fo fully to exprefs both in her holy Liturgie, and publickly-authorized homilies, that there is no one point of divine truth which the hath more punctually and plainly laid down before us:. What can be more evident then that which the hath faid in the second exhortation before the Communion? thus,. Dearly beloved, forafmuch as our duty is, to render to Almighty God our heavenly Father moft hearty thanks, for that he hath given his Son our Saviour Jefus Chrift, not only to dye for us, but alfo, to be our fpiritual food and fuftenance, as it is declared unto us, as well by Gods word, as by the holy Sacraments of his bleffed body and blood, &c. Lo, Chrift is in this Sacrament given to us, to be our fpiritual food, in which regard alfo this facrament is in the fame exhortation called a Godly and heavenly feaft, where to that we may come holy and clean, we muft fearch and examine our own confciences (not our chops and mawes) that we may come and be received as worthy Partakers, of fuch an Heavenly Table. But that in the following exhortation is yet more pregnant, that we should diligently try and examine our faith before we profume to eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For as the benefit is great if with a true penitent heart, and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament, (for then we fpiritually cat the flesh of Chrift, and and drink his blood, then we dwel in Chrift, and he in us, we be one with Chrift, and Chrift with us,) fo is the danger great if we receive the fame unworthily. What termes can be more expreffe? it is bread and wine which we come to receive, that bread and that wine is facramental. It is our heart wherewith we receive that facrament, it is our faith whereby we worthily receive; this receit and manducation of the flesh of Chrift is fpiritually done, and by this fpiritual receit of him, we are made one with him, and he with us; by vertue, then, of the worthy receit of this facramental bread: 1: and wine we eat the fleth and drink the blood of Chrift fpiritually; I and there growes hereby a reciprocal union betwixt Chrift and us, neither is the otherwife one with us, then we are one with him, which can be no otherwise then by the power of his inftitution, and of our faith. And that no man may doubt what the drift and purpofe of our bleffed Saviour was in the inftitution and recommendation of this bleffed facrament to his Church, it followes in that paffage ; And to the end that we should alway remember the exceeding great love of our master and onely Saviour Jefus Chrift thus dying for us, and the innumerable benefits which by his pretious blood-fhedding he hath obtained to us, he hath inftituted and ordained holy myfteries as pledges of his love, and continual remembrances of his death to our great and endleffe comfort: If therefore we fhall look upon and. take thefe facred elements as the pledges of our Saviours love to us,. and remembrances of his death for us, we fhall not need, neither indeed can we require by the judgment of cur Church to fet any other value on them: But withall that we may not fleightly conceive of those mysteries, as if they had no further worth then they do outwardly fhow, we are taught in that prayer which the Minifter kneeling down at Gods board is appointed to make in the name of all the communicants before the confecration, that whiles we do duly receive those bleffed elements we do in the fame act, by the power of our faith eat the flesh, and drink the blood of Chrift; fo effectual and infeparable is the facramental union of the fignes thus inftituted by our bleffed Lord and Saviour, with the thing thereby fignified; for thus is he prefcribed to pray; Grant us therefore gratious Lord fo to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jefus Chrift, and to drink his blood that our finful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our |